Leslie Bailey: What I found by unplugging from the Internet

Jan. 17, 2014

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I was born on Feb. 16, which makes me an Aquarius. An Aquarius flirting dangerously close to Pisces but an Aquarius nonetheless. Aquarians are said to embrace progress and technology. And I do.

There are several devices that keep me digitally engaged with the rest of the world at least 16 hours a day; an iPhone, an iPad, a Macbook and a work-issued laptop. They keep me connected to my job, my friends, my family and sometimes — no, make that often — I want to throw them from the window of a speeding car.

That’s always how I picture it — the hypothetical day when I rid myself of all beeping, blinking, ringing things. It would be so cathartic, just like in the movies. You know that scene, where one character throws another’s phone out the car window? Those scenes give me hives of anxiety and an intense wave of jealousy at the same time.

I’m not alone in my overwhelming desire to find a space of peace, a period where I’m not accessible to anyone or tempted to check-in, photograph or update any status. A few days prior to leaving for vacation last week, I came across an article by comedian and author Baratunde Thurston wherein he documented his experience of leaving the Internet for 25 days.

“Gasp!” some of you exclaim in horror, while others roll their eyes. To the latter, before sharing your snarky “First World Problem” comments, I say this: Like it or not, for many people 25 days offline would be impossible because their livelihoods depend on it. For others, unplugging is difficult due to FOMO (that’s Internet-speak for Fear of Missing Out). The problem is, when we’re constantly sharing and receiving information, there’s little room for much else.

“When you have down time, when play is possible, you find creativity because the environment is free of distraction,” said Anne Laker, program director for Big Car, a cultural organization that drives community livability and engagement-based arts. Along with entrepreneurial network Centric, Big Car recently hosted a Digital Disconnect Party where attendees were asked to leave their phones at the door and enjoy an evening of old-time activities like letter writing, board games and a thing called a face-to-face conversation.

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“It was mentally challenging at times because it makes life more difficult, but there’s also a sense of freedom and true relaxation — something very innocent about the whole thing,” said Laker.

So I decided to spend my vacation “unplugged.” I wasn’t extreme. If my boyfriend and I are hungry, not looking up a restaurant isn’t called an “adventure,” it’s called a fight. But there was one rule; I left my computer at home. Beyond that, I would do my best to minimize any interaction with my phone.

Instead of working on my laptop at the beach, I read a memoir. Instead of taking pictures of my food, I savored every bite and made a mental note to try similar recipes at home. It was lovely, but not because it was a challenge I needed to overcome. It was a reminder that while I may adopt and embrace technology, I need very little of it.

The day I returned online, I came across a Huffington Post blog post by Glamour magazine Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive. In December, Leive — along with HuffPost President and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington and “Morning Joe” host Mike Brzezinski — unplugged from email and social media for the holidays. Leive described her experience and our observations were similar: You notice how many people are on their phones when you’re not. We shared the same frivolous concerns: “Did that sunset actually happen if I didn’t get to Instagram it?” Leive wrote.

But by reading her account of the experience, I realized this. We are in control of the beast that is the Internet. We are not victims, we are not slaves, we are captives. We are there by choice. For work and fun, convenience and communication.

That means I can decide when I need to unplug and when. I don’t need to chuck my phone out of a car window, nor do I need it to be the first thing I reach for when I wake up in the morning. Then again ... how else will I check my horoscope?